GM Mayor backs calls for Chancellor to apologise over cuts to policing

Greater Manchester’s Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd

Greater Manchester’s Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd has backed calls for the Chancellor to apologise for wrongly claiming that there would be no cuts to local policing this year.

Responding to the UK Statistics Authority’s findings that policing faces a £160m real-term cut in government funding in 2015-16 and 2016-17, despite George Osborne’s pledge to protect budgets and ‘back our police’, Mr Lloyd said: "This analysis exposes the weakness of the Chancellor’s pledge to protect local policing, after years of cuts, and is an embarrassment for him and the government. It shows the public that this government has no interest in backing our police, nor is it committed to protecting our communities.

“I have said from the start that this is still a ‘cuts budget’. As this report shows, the Chancellor’s so-called plan to protect policing has not been borne out in real terms and offers us no certainty beyond this financial year. This year we face a cut of £8.5m cut from our budget. That’s on top of the £180m already cut from GMP and the 2,000 police officers that have disappeared from our streets.

“To try and make the sums add up I have had no choice but to ask local people to contribute more to maintain their police service, but the additional £3.5m raised from council tax is still not enough to meet the shortfall as we try and find savings of £70m.

“The Chancellor needs to redo his sums and make good on his promise protect our police service.”